Hyundai’s electric walking car concept is reminiscent of Star Wars

At this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) held in Las Vegas back in January, Hyundai unveiled its vehicle concept that walks like a man. The electric walking car concept featured robotic legs and might remind you of Star Wars’ Heavy Assault Walker.

Presented with a video animation at CES 2019, the walking car dubbed Elevate, involves some inspired engineering that would be great to have along when doing some epic back-county skiing or biking trips.

Officially, Hyundai says this first-ever vehicle with moveable legs would be perfect for disaster relief, the legs not only providing height and ground clearance but suspension as well, making it the first Ultimate Mobility Vehicle (UMV).

“Any first responder will tell you that the first 72 hours following a natural disaster are the most crucial to saving lives,” explained Hyundai. “However, often times due to the nature of the disaster (forest fire, earthquake, hurricane, or flood), it can be difficult for search-and-rescue and humanitarian aid missions to reach and get immediate help to those in need.”

This electric walking car concept has been created to be faster, more efficient and resilient compared to ordinary off-road vehicles. The modular Elevate can even switch out different bodies for different uses.

Elevate’s active suspension mode keeps the car body level, even when its legs are traveling over uneven terrain. And with five degrees of motion, the robotic legs can produce both mammalian and reptilian walking gaits, allowing it to walk or climb in any direction across various landscapes.

In addition to emergency services, Hyundai says its walking car concept could be ideal as a wheelchair-accessible vehicle.

Elevate is just the latest idea to come from Hyundai Cradle, the carmaker’s venture arm that invests and partners with innovative startups. To learn more about this concept vehicle, click here.

IKEA wants to make self-driving cars that double as cafés & offices

Daniel Swanick has been working as both a freelance and in-house Art Director / Senior Graphic Designer in the Greater Toronto Area for over ten years. He looks at every project from both a creative and strategic point-of-view to deliver engaging, conceptually driven ideas.